4 ms·

I have a question for those who say things along the lines of twitter becoming "more open platform, with reduced censorship of unpopular people and ideas" Wasn

I have a question for those who say things along the lines of twitter becoming "more open platform, with reduced censorship of unpopular people and ideas" Wasn't the only "censorship" twitter has done simply against harmful misinformation and hate speech? What exactly is twitter censoring that's outside of those two? I haven't used HN long enough to know why I can reply to some posts but not others, so sorry for this top level

jaspax 4y ago
Twitter said that their censorship was against misinformation and hate speech. A great many people noticed that their actual implementation was erratic, inconsistent, and partisan, and would like for them to stop.
- nxm 4y ago
  They tended to censor what went against left wing narrative
  - posguy 4y ago
    I was banned from Twitter for posting a picture of a truck with expired tabs that had been dumped in a bike lane near my house that tagged the local police and city.
skocznymroczny 4y ago
> harmful misinformation and hate speech? that's the problem. These days anything you don't agree with can be considered harmful misinformation and hate speech. A year ago, doubting the almost 100% efficiency of masks or vaccines was "harmful, dangerous and may result in deaths", these days it's "common sense and valid skepticism".
next_xibalba 4y ago
Here is a just one major example of censorship that was neither misinformation nor hate speech: The Hunter Biden laptop story. This story was broken by the right-leaning New York Post. Twitter banned its sharing in the weeks before the election, claiming it to be misinformation (with the implication that the leaking of its contents was part of a Russian plot). ~2 years later (when its relevance is greatly diminished) both the Washington Post [1] and the New York Times [2] have confirmed the major aspects of this story. This was a coordinated censorship campaign, and a free speech platform would have allowed it to get the the sunlight it deserved. Now, does it appear the NY Post's coverage was slanted and, in some areas, inaccurate? Yes. But that is where the rest of the media (including and especially Twitter) should have stepped in to perform its function in an open society: producing more and better speech. [1] https://archive.ph/znP14 https://archive.ph/znP14 [2] https://archive.ph/i3Ip8 https://archive.ph/i3Ip8
- marstall 4y ago
  what is the meat of the hunter biden laptop story exactly? and how did twitter prevent it from behind shared on their platform?
  - next_xibalba 4y ago
    This is easily Google-able, or you can follow the links in my previous comment.
    - marstall 4y ago
      Those articles don't seem to offer much that's terribly substantial - but what about the other question? How did twitter censor this exactly?
- cloutchaser 4y ago
  It's also interesting to contrast it with Trump's tax returns. It was claimed even if true the hunter biden laptop was obtained illegally and therefore cannot be shared publicly. Now, there are about a million other things that are probably obtained illegally talked about on twitter, but even so, obtaining and posting someone's tax returns online is actually illegal, and it was also for a presidential candidate, so it really should have qualified under the same rules to be censored if Twitter was consistent. Yet that was never blocked on Twitter.

jaspax 4y ago

Twitter said that their censorship was against misinformation and hate speech. A great many people noticed that their actual implementation was erratic, inconsistent, and partisan, and would like for them to stop.

nxm 4y ago
They tended to censor what went against left wing narrative
- posguy 4y ago
  I was banned from Twitter for posting a picture of a truck with expired tabs that had been dumped in a bike lane near my house that tagged the local police and city.

skocznymroczny 4y ago

> harmful misinformation and hate speech? that's the problem. These days anything you don't agree with can be considered harmful misinformation and hate speech. A year ago, doubting the almost 100% efficiency of masks or vaccines was "harmful, dangerous and may result in deaths", these days it's "common sense and valid skepticism".

next_xibalba 4y ago

Here is a just one major example of censorship that was neither misinformation nor hate speech: The Hunter Biden laptop story. This story was broken by the right-leaning New York Post. Twitter banned its sharing in the weeks before the election, claiming it to be misinformation (with the implication that the leaking of its contents was part of a Russian plot). ~2 years later (when its relevance is greatly diminished) both the Washington Post [1] and the New York Times [2] have confirmed the major aspects of this story. This was a coordinated censorship campaign, and a free speech platform would have allowed it to get the the sunlight it deserved. Now, does it appear the NY Post's coverage was slanted and, in some areas, inaccurate? Yes. But that is where the rest of the media (including and especially Twitter) should have stepped in to perform its function in an open society: producing more and better speech. [1] https://archive.ph/znP14 https://archive.ph/znP14 [2] https://archive.ph/i3Ip8 https://archive.ph/i3Ip8

marstall 4y ago
what is the meat of the hunter biden laptop story exactly? and how did twitter prevent it from behind shared on their platform?
- next_xibalba 4y ago
  This is easily Google-able, or you can follow the links in my previous comment.
  - marstall 4y ago
    Those articles don't seem to offer much that's terribly substantial - but what about the other question? How did twitter censor this exactly?
cloutchaser 4y ago
It's also interesting to contrast it with Trump's tax returns. It was claimed even if true the hunter biden laptop was obtained illegally and therefore cannot be shared publicly. Now, there are about a million other things that are probably obtained illegally talked about on twitter, but even so, obtaining and posting someone's tax returns online is actually illegal, and it was also for a presidential candidate, so it really should have qualified under the same rules to be censored if Twitter was consistent. Yet that was never blocked on Twitter.